Heater problem......

[twilliams]

Woke up this morning to a cold RV. Went out and changed the propane tank. The heater came on and heated everything up nicely for about 30 minutes. The smoke detector went off and then a few minutes later the heater stopped working. There is no noticeable smoke or fire anywhere. The battery level is down to zero. The heater will not re-light. Coldest day of the year........where do I start?

 

[Kathi-27]

have to have batt power for heater to operate

 

[jerryjay11]

Start with "Why is your battery dead." Boondocking or hooked up to power. If plugged in then check your power inverter for 12vdc (fuses/cb's) which the furnace runs on. Worst case scenario: Unplug your electric cord, turn your tow vehicle around, using a set of jumper cables jump to your camper battery to get furnace running to bring up heat in camper.

 

[cookie]

Kathy-27 is correct you need 12 volt power to run your furnace.
So plug into shore power or fire up your genny.
If you are plugged in to shore power then check the mini circuit breaker that has a tiny reset button on it. Push to reset.

Peace
Dave

 

[danemayer]

Start with the battery. The furnace control board can't fire the igniter or hold the gas valve open at the furnace if voltage is below around 10V DC.

So, assuming you have shore power, the Power Converter should be changing 120V AC into 12V DC to operate interior lights and the furnace, the thermostat, etc. If the interior 12V DC lights are dark or very dim, you're not getting any power out of the Converter. And since the Power Converter also keeps the battery charged, a Converter failure would be masked until the battery was run down.

Things to check:

- Power Converter's circuit breaker in the main circuit breaker panel inside the coach. Flip off and back on.
- If still no lights, etc., you'll need to check that the Power Converter is plugged in. To do that, you need to take down the rear wall of the pass-through basement storage (on most trailers).
- If it's plugged in, check the outlet to ensure it's getting power. You can do this with a volt meter, or if you don't have one, by plugging in a lamp or small appliance.
- If the outlet has power, check the 3 on-board blade type fuses on the Power Converter. Do a visual inspection. If they look ok, also check ohms with a meter.
- If fuses look ok, check voltage where the wires connect to the Power Converter. If nothing there, your Converter appears to have failed.

Workarounds until a failed Converter can be replaced:

You can recharge the trailer battery by connecting the trailer umbilical and running the truck on high idle for 30-60 minutes. Unplug the umbilical when done. Even better, use jumper cables to go directly from truck to trailer battery.

Get a battery charger and connect it to your trailer battery. If there are several sizes, buy the largest. The battery charger should provide enough power to run the furnace and lights. Run the water heater on electric and don't use any more lights than necessary.

 

[twilliams]

Start with the battery. The furnace control board can't fire the igniter or hold the gas valve open at the furnace if voltage is below around 10V DC.

So, assuming you have shore power, the Power Converter should be changing 120V AC into 12V DC to operate interior lights and the furnace, the thermostat, etc. If the interior 12V DC lights are dark or very dim, you're not getting any power out of the Converter. And since the Power Converter also keeps the battery charged, a Converter failure would be masked until the battery was run down.

Things to check:

- Power Converter's circuit breaker in the main circuit breaker panel inside the coach. Flip off and back on.
- If still no lights, etc., you'll need to check that the Power Converter is plugged in. To do that, you need to take down the rear wall of the pass-through basement storage (on most trailers).
- If it's plugged in, check the outlet to ensure it's getting power. You can do this with a volt meter, or if you don't have one, by plugging in a lamp or small appliance.
- If the outlet has power, check the 3 on-board blade type fuses on the Power Converter. Do a visual inspection. If they look ok, also check ohms with a meter.
- If fuses look ok, check voltage where the wires connect to the Power Converter. If nothing there, your Converter appears to have failed.

Workarounds until a failed Converter can be replaced:

You can recharge the trailer battery by connecting the trailer umbilical and running the truck on high idle for 30-60 minutes. Unplug the umbilical when done. Even better, use jumper cables to go directly from truck to trailer battery.

Get a battery charger and connect it to your trailer battery. If there are several sizes, buy the largest. The battery charger should provide enough power to run the furnace and lights. Run the water heater on electric and don't use any more lights than necessary.

So- the batteries are two-three years old. Original equipment. Think I will replace them. I know this sounds stupid, but not sure exactly which wires go where when I hook the battery box back up. I did not mark the wires before disconnecting them......... There is a red, white, and two blacks. I am thinking the red and white together on the red post, and the two blacks on the black post.

 

[HOOKERUP]

If you have 12v batteries; Black to negative - symbol red to positive + symbol. White wire also to negative side.

 

[twilliams]

So- the batteries are two-three years old. Original equipment. Think I will replace them. I know this sounds stupid, but not sure exactly which wires go where when I hook the battery box back up. I did not mark the wires before disconnecting them......... There is a red, white, and two blacks. I am thinking the red and white together on the red post, and the two blacks on the black post.

Here are a couple of pictures, the posts and the wires.

- - - Updated - - -

If you have 12v batteries; Black to negative - symbol red to positive + symbol. White wire also to negative side.

So-one red cable to the red Post. Two black cables and a white cable to the black Post?

 

[twilliams]

Here are a couple of pictures, the posts and the wires.

- - - Updated - - -



So-one red cable to the red Post. Two black cables and a white cable to the black Post?

So on a second look there are 2 red wires, two black wires, and a white wire. See picture. The two reds should go to the red Post and the two black wires and the white wire should go to the black Post, right?

 

[HOOKERUP]

That is correct

- - - Updated - - -

If you are only replacing the batteries there is no need to remove the wires from the post that are o/s the battery box. There is enough room to push top out of way when the batteries are disconnected.

 

[carl.swoyer]

Woke up this morning to a cold RV. Went out and changed the propane tank. The heater came on and heated everything up nicely for about 30 minutes. The smoke detector went off and then a few minutes later the heater stopped working. There is no noticeable smoke or fire anywhere. The battery level is down to zero. The heater will not re-light. Coldest day of the year........where do I start?

Exhaust obstruction?

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[twilliams]

Exhaust obstruction?

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I don’t think so. I have a big screen over the exhaust. It has been there for over two years.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dean-Pam]

My nephew had a similar problem and ended up replacing the batteries. When he went to change out the batteries, he realized the original batteries were almost dry. It seems he hadn't checked the water level because he was told they were maintenance free. He may have needed new batteries anyways, but the timing wasn't the best that the batteries quit in the middle of the night with a sick child. Valuable lesson learned about battery maintenance.

 

[twilliams]

I don’t think so. I have a big screen over the exhaust. It has been there for over two years.


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The batteries are dead.


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[HOOKERUP]

I can not picture any screen in battery area.

 

[twilliams]

So- the batteries are two-three years old. Original equipment. Think I will replace them. I know this sounds stupid, but not sure exactly which wires go where when I hook the battery box back up. I did not mark the wires before disconnecting them......... There is a red, white, and two blacks. I am thinking the red and white together on the red post, and the two blacks on the black post.

I cant thank everyone enough for the help! I got the wires back on the new batteries safely. I went through the suggestions Given and found a loose outlet the converter was plugged into. So, after fixing that we are back in business!

this forum is a big help. Thanks to all the regulars that respond!

 

[LBR]

I cant thank everyone enough for the help! I got the wires back on the new batteries safely. I went through the suggestions Given and found a loose outlet the converter was plugged into. So, after fixing that we are back in business!

this forum is a big help. Thanks to all the regulars that respond!

You probably have buttoned it all up by now, but if not, zip-tie the plug into the outlet so it can't jiggle out.